My Favorite Martian

I have always had a big soft spot for this whacky sci-fi Family comedy since seeing it at the cinema way back in 1999!!! "My Favourite Martian" is a Disney production & that means it's a beautiful looking & expensive movie with fantastic special effects & fun silly humour but with a big heart. This is based on the old 60's t.v series which i had never seen so i always judged this fun film as it is, a big budget summertime fantasy comedy that anyone can & should enjoy!!!

I've always liked Jeff Daniels since his great performance in the 1990 Classic Arachnophobia & later in the hilarious Jim Carrey Comedy Dumb & Dumber, he's a funny guy in a straight faced type of performance & here he's good fun as News producer Tim O'Hara who gets mixed up with a being from out of space, a strange Martian played by a very funny Christopher Lloyd who ends up playing his Uncle Martin while on Earth, IT'S a fun whacky part for the great Christopher Lloyd who is legendary at playing whacky & eccentric characters like his Doc Brown from the Back to the Future films. "Uncle Martin" has a sidekick with him, a super slick silver & stretchy space suit named Zoot voiced by Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park, SpaceJam) & the rest of the cast is rounded out by a solid & fun cast with the beautiful & seductive Elizabeth Hurley (Austin Powers) Daryl Hannah (Memoirs of an invisible man) & Wallace Shawn (Toy Story, Haunted Mansion) all who seem to be having a good time & i love Jeff Daniels apartment it's Awesome!!! There's just a nice sweet & feelgood vibe to this fantasy adventure & it's beautifully shot with it's summertime look & suburban settings & some lovely scenes by the beach side & a nice musical score that compliments everything. The special effects are very good, especially for it's time when computer effects hadn't completely taken over yet but they look great still & i love the nice buddy chemistry between Daniels & Lloyd & that gives the movie it's sweet good-hearted nature & there's just a nice sense of fun & plenty of fun adventure scenes & great chemistry between Daniels & Lloyd, wish they made a sequel as i love these two together. A genuinely just enjoyable fantasy comedy for the whole family, so just chillout & have some fun. Pure 90's fun.

My Favourite Martian (1999, Dir. Donald Petrie)

Life couldn't get much worse for News Producer Tim O'Hara. He humiliates the one he loves, Brace Channing and ends up getting fired by her father. Then, a Martian from Mars arrives in his home. The Martian adopts the name 'Uncle Martin' and becomes friends with Tim, whilst he fixes his ship. Unaware to Martin, Tim actually wants to reveal him to the world, but can he actually do that to his new friend and 'Uncle'?

I was very young when this came out, and at the time i loved it. I am not familiar at all with the original TV series and had never seen any of the episodes, but i do know what makes a good film, and this film isn't exactly a good film. The film just did not have a well built story. The film just seemed to have a lot of scenes of talking and walking around. The film was basically just following them around in their normal lives. When action did begin to pick up, this was very limited and was over in a matter of minutes. The characters really didn't have much character in them. There weren't many jokes at all coming from any of them. Christopher Lloyd only seemed to play the most interesting character and did provide me with a few laughs. He had all the perfect characteristics, but this still doesn't save a poorly written film.

"Is there an alien amongst us?" - Brace Channing (Elizabeth Hurley)

This was yet another big screen outing for a US TV show from the sixties It is amusing enough but was very much to formula. Intelligent Martian lands on Earth and meets the not too bright humans, in his view.

The usual wackiness ensues with the human, Bridges, eventually bonds with him and helps him to get home. Along the way he also gets the girl, Hannah.

This is a nice outing for some pleasant Hollywood stars who I had not seen for a while.

Pleasant enough to pass some spare time if you have not got anything better to view.

When I was a kid in the 50's and 60's anything connected with Disney was by definition great. What happened? They are able to get any actors and actresses they want, the best of their time. But somehow Disney manages to screw things up in spite of their abundant resources.

Disney can afford the best writers, the best producers and directors, but still...they screw things up! This movie is crap. The sad thing is that I suspect Disney in their arrogance does not even know when a movie is good or bad.

It is only due to the talent of the actors that I can even give it a 3 of 10.

Boy, I can hear those producers right now: "That's great, a movie-version of My Favorite Martian... That calls for computer FX! Get me those CGI-people!"

The writers: "Well, we were hoping that the story..."

The Producers: "Yes, yes, yes! But enough with the story, GET ME COMPUTER FX!!! GOTTA HAVE LOTS AND LOTS OF FX!!! KIDS WILL LOVE IT!!!"

And thus yet another charming 60's TV-show was mutilated by Hollywood.

This movie version is so loaded with pointless F/X they left no room for a story, not to mention comedy! All though Jeff Daniels and Christopher Lloyd try their best the story just ISN'T FUNNY. Not to mention that dreadful ZOOT-character voiced by Wayne Knight: it ranks as one of the most annoying film characters off all time, alongside the infamous Jar Jar Binks.

One plus worth mentioning: the star of the original show, Ray Walston, turns up and he is in surprisingly good form.